


Take a Breath

by InterstellarVagabond



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post Ending, aloy has ptsd, polyam Aloy, reference to frozen wilds dlc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 18:55:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18413876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterstellarVagabond/pseuds/InterstellarVagabond
Summary: After saving the world Aloy has started traveling, seeking out the other lost AIs of the Horizon Zero Dawn project. She takes a quick journey back to Meridian for parts, and runs into Erend just when she needs him to remind her that she deserves a break after all she's been through.





	Take a Breath

**Author's Note:**

> just btw, I played the dlc after the game and I think the story flows better if the entire frozen wilds dlc takes place after the events of the main game! So that's how I wrote it!
> 
> This is my first work for this game, I hope you enjoy! Please comment!! Thank you!

It wasn’t often his patrols took him out of the city, but with the remnants of the disbanded eclipse lurking about Meridian Erend found his patrols routes growing wider and wider. It usually wasn’t worth the weary footsoreness at the end of the day, but today he seemed to have found some excitement after all.

When him and his guardsmen saw the thunderjaw rampaging through the dry underbrush they almost turned and walked back in the other direction. It was far enough away from the city to not be a danger, and they weren’t equipped for that kind of battle at the moment. However, a flash of red drew Erend’s attention, and he soon saw what… or rather who it was that had the thunderjaw so enraged.

“Shit, it’s Aloy!” he called out, gesturing for the other two guardsmen. They joined Erend at the outcropping of rocks behind which he knelt for cover.

“We’re not going out there… right?” Tann asked, gripping her axe and eyeing up the machine battle below with apprehension. 

“What, scared of a little machine?” Erend joked, ducking suddenly as a blast from the thunderjaw’s mouth cannon blasted a rock nearby. “Besides, Aloy’s down there. She’s plenty backup.”

“Take a job with the vanguard, they said,” Or sighed. “It’ll be easy, they said. Just crack some skulls and collect the pay, no one said anything about machines bigger than my apartment.”

“Alright, men,”  Erend said, drawing upon every ounce of his authority. “And Tann. Aloy needs help, and we’re just the dumbasses to provide it. Are you ready?”

“... fine,” Tann said.

“I want a raise,” Or said. 

The three Oseram warriors charged down the hillside, rushing the thunderjaw and screaming with both rage and a little bit of panic. The screams seemed to draw Aloy’s attention too, as she turned back for a moment with surprise. She was quick to turn her attention back to the machine, notching another tearblast arrow and aiming it at the thunderjaw’s weaponry. 

As the fight continued Erend couldn’t help but be distracted. 

He wasn’t so vain as to think he was the only one in Aloy’s life, and he didn’t mind that. There were many who fell for her, and some of those were lucky enough to feel her love reciprocated. The time he’d spent with her had been brief, but meaningful. Seeing her in battle, red hair like a flash of fire in the wind as she battled a machine most would run from in fear with courage in her eyes, it gave him the strength to fight. 

It was Aloy, of course, who struck the final blow. The thunderjaw fell to its knees, and Aloy leapt to its head and fire an arrow directly into its head. Sparks flew, and the light faded from the thunderjaw’s eyes as its rumbling roar faded into silence. 

Or fell to his knees with relief, Tann rolled her eyes and patted his head as he thanked every god he knew of for his life. Erend spared a moment to chuckle at the antics of his fellows, before turning back to Aloy.

She was tearing parts out of the kill, with that same ease and skill most Nora hunters showed. Not that Aloy ever called herself a Nora. She had no use for tribal loyalty, she was loyal only to the people who needed her regardless of tribe. 

“Why do we always seem to meet like this?” Erend asked, gesturing at the thunderjaw with a smirk. 

“It does seem to keep happening, doesn’t it?” Aloy replied, cutting away at wires to get to her prize. “Thanks for the help.”

“I doubt you needed it,” Erend said. “I haven’t seen you in awhile, I thought you’d up and vanished on me.”

It was true, Aloy had been gone for a month and a half at least after the battle with Hades. She frowned in a way that could almost be considered apologetic, or maybe just lonely. 

“Yeah, I’ve been up north,” she said. “Banuk territory. I just came back for some parts I… I’ve been busy.”

Busy was an understatement. After discovering CYAN and the work of the Hephaestus AI, Aloy had dedicated herself to tracking down all of the autonomous programs once under Gaia’s control, starting with Hephaestus. So far her search had brought her nowhere, but killing the hunter-killers Hephaestus had released had kept her busy enough.

“Doesn’t surprise me at all,” Erend said. “Always on the move, always saving the day, right?”

“Well, I try.” Aloy smiled. Her smile grew wane, a hand flying to her side as she winced and stumbled slightly. Erend’s face grew concerned, as he grabbed her arm to steady her. He was dismayed to see that when Aloy pulled her hand away it was soaked with blood. 

“Oh god, Aloy,” Erend said. 

“I’m fine.” Aloy pushed off Erend with a grunt, trying to stand on her own.

“You’re not fine!” Erend insisted. “Hey, you two knuckleheads! Go back to the city, bring us some medical supplies, get a move on!”

Tann and Or leapt into action, Oseram armor clinking and clanging as they ran. Aloy shook her head, taking a seat and leaning up against the thunderjaw corpse for support. She winced again, closing her eyes in pain, as Erend drew nearer to assess the damage.

Aloy let Erend remove the heavier parts of her armor, lifting the cloth underneath to get at the wound bleeding through. 

“Aloy…” he breathed, looking not only at the deep gash but also at the scars, bruises, and burns that seemed to litter her skin. His fingers hovered over one large burn, and Aloy chuckled.

“Fireclaw,” she explained. “You don’t ever wanna meet one. Trust me.”

Even as she made light of the experience, memories of a roaring machine cloaked in flame filled her vision. It had gotten so close to her, never before had she felt so slow at notching arrows and releasing them. She’d faced so many machines, and at some point the weight of all her battles had sunk down upon her. It was all she saw when she closed her eyes: the machines, the men, Hades, Rost dropping her down the mountain with a prayer on his lips. For a moment she wasn’t aware of Erend talking to her, which only made him worry more. 

“You still with me?” he asked. 

“Yeah, still here,” Aloy said. “You don’t have to shout.”

“Sorry,” Erend said. “Do you need to lay down? That looks like it hurts.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” Aloy said. 

“I know you’re strong,” Erend said. “But it’s okay to not be fine once in awhile. C’mon, I’m the king of not being fine, I know it. You’re allowed to take a breath, Aloy.”

Aloy was taking several breaths, labored and broken, as she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Erend’s shoulder. 

“Alright…” she sighed. “Alright, just for now.”

  
  


Tann and Or made it back quick enough with supplies. Erend didn’t want to move Aloy while she was wounded, so they set up camp in the shadow of the downed thunderjaw as the sun set. Tann and Or volunteered without even being asked to take watch, leaving Erend free to sit with Aloy by the fire.

She was looking a bit better, stitched up and having drunk a concoction of healing herbs that must have tasted as bad as they smelled judging by her grimace. Still, her gaze was vacant as she stared into the flames. 

“So…” Erend said, rousing the fire with careful prodding with a stick. “Banuk territory?”

“Yellowstone,” Aloy sighed. 

“Never heard of it,” Erend said with a shrug.

“No, I figured not,” Aloy said. “It hasn’t been called that for a long time.”

“Have you always been such a historian?” Erend asked.

“No,” Aloy said. “Just sort of… ended up poking around in the past.”

She didn’t mention how her life was forever tied to the past. She didn’t really talk to most people about that, outside of CYAN. The one being in the world that could understand her, a product of the scientists of the past. They’d started playfully calling each other cousins, though the reality was more bittersweet. 

“Do you ever sit still for a second?” Erend chuckled. “Take a break?”

“Not really,” Aloy said. “I mean, sometimes I hunt animals instead of machines, does that count?” 

Erend laughed at her wink, and shook his head.

“My life went to shit and I couldn’t relax hard enough,” he said. “Drank and gambled and ignored it all. Your life goes to shit and you just keep going, keep saving people and fighting. You’re a wonder Aloy, but I worry about you.”

“I was worried about you when you drank and gambled, to be fair,” Aloy replied. “We all have our ways of coping.”

“And thunderjaws are yours?” 

“Thunderjaws are mine.”

“Right,” Erend said. “Well, maybe take a break from the hunt for awhile. At least while you heal.”

“No time for breaks,” Aloy said. “It’s… hard to explain, but I have to keep going.”

“Aloy, you’re allowed a break,” Erend insisted. “You pretty much saved the world, you’ve earned a breather and more.”

Aloy shook her head with a frown. “Erend…”

“Aw, c’mon, I’m not usually right just give me this one,” Erend joked.

Aloy smiled weakly. “Alright…” she said, her smile fading suddenly as she stared into the fire.

The fire coated claws that bore down on her, as Ourea died in front of her while she was helpless and unable to move. Rost dying, Elisabet dying, Hades speaking to her in a voice marred by mechanical groans and the roar of the thunderjaw as it bore down on her guns blasting. 

“Aloy.”

Aloy realized she was crying, leaning hard into Erend’s chest and letting the sobs that wracked her body work their way free of her chest. Erend wrapped his arms around her, letting the fierce woman that had saved them all take a breather and worry about herself for once. He loved her, but more importantly he was there. There for her to lean against as she cried at the pain of her wounds and the pain of her memories. 

When the sun rose, Aloy woke in Erend’s arms. Laying by a dead fire and a dead thunderjaw. She would have to collect the parts and move on, back past Banuk territory into unknown land to search for the rebellious AIs and also for answers. 

She ached, her eyes were sore and slightly swollen from her crying and her body was covered in wounds. She’d endured pain before, and would endure more before she was done. 

Still, she let herself sink back into Erend’s embrace, feeling his warmth and the way his snores rumbled against her back. She would take this moment, she would take a break. She’d had so little time with the people she loved, and she could lose them at any point. Today, instead of worrying about losing them, she would enjoy the time she had. She would go back to sleep, and let Erend sleep too.


End file.
